Shawn and Hobby Band is one of Music City’s most popular CFC bands. Classic Fused Country. Led by Nashville-based recording artists Shawn Lacy and Hobby Weiss, the 4-member band fuses the perfect blend of classic rock with country twang.
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Cover Story – Shawn & Hobby Band : The Way They Roll

By Clayton Grove

Shawn and Hobby Band is one of Music City’s most popular country-rock bands. Led by Nashville-based recording artists Shawn Lacy and Hobby Weiss, the 4-member band plays over 250 shows a year, primarily in the city’s downtown entertainment district on Broadway at iconic Honky Tonk venues. The group has also shared stages with legendary performers Merle Haggard, David Allen Coe, Phil Vassar, Pat Green, and The Guess Who, among others. Performing original music inspired by rock legends Tom Petty and Credence Clearwater Revival, The Shawn and Hobby Band showcase their use of powerful harmonies, thumping rhythm and styled guitars to create a completely original and unique sound that can be described in three words. Classic Fused Country.

In summer 2007, Shawn and Hobby Band made the professional decision to move to Nashville after having been performing in their Pennsylvania hometown to acclaimed reviews and garnering a strong on-air radio audience. Following their dreams, Shawn Lacy, Hobby Weiss, Ron Lavella and Elio Giordano have made a name for themselves as a constant presence on Nashville stages, offering their enthusiastic audiences a true Nashville experience with a different perspective in a familiar genre of music. Shawn and Hobby Band released their debut album in 2009. Featuring ten original songs, the CD invokes a sense of “modern/classic,” featuring the title track, Radio On. In 2010, Shawn Lacy collaborated with filmmaker Steve Condon to create a documentary of the band’s creative evolution as a musical mainstay on Nashville’s historic Honky Tonk stages. In April 2010, the film, entitled Radio On: The Shawn and Hobby Band Documentary, received its world premiere at The Nashville Film Festival to overwhelming applause. The filmmakers recently screened the compelling documentary in Pennsylvania and at film festivals and colleges across the country.

In Nashville, Shawn and Hobby Band can be heard and seen regularly downtown on Broadway at The Second Fiddle and The Stage, and Sambuca in Nashville’s historic Gulch, among other high profile music venues. The band has appeared on the popular FOX Tennessee Mornings Show and will be featured in a segment for the Discovery Channel Documentary Series on Gibson Guitars. Most recently the band has returned to Nashville after a West Coast tour where they performed with rising country star Lee Brice, as well as filming new music videos for their newly recorded singles ‘Far From Home’ and ‘Down South’.After filming wrapped, Shawn and Hobby Band made one last stop in Kosovo for a USO tour, where they had the honor to perform for the American Troops.

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Before I finished my post I cut three sentences while meaning only to cut one. I lost my thought and speed, but ail try and deliver the same sentiment.
It included: Lawyer Steve and Doug, and Steve (Direc Tor) Condon.
Steve Condon: you are my brother. I know you understand the process and the commitment. And I know these things because you have dedicated so much of your time, effort and talent to our endeavor. Forever grateful, I am.

Friends, family, fans, and fellow musicians: I want to take this opportunity to say, “Thank you!”. Hopefully, over the years, I have taken the time to thank you for your support, your talents and gifts, your generosity, collaboration, creative input and friendship.
As the season of growth and change is upon us, it seems apropos to formally announce a change in our operation for the near future.
As many of you know, I have been pursuing my Master Barber certification for the past 14 months. I finish my program in 5 days. I truly hope you all know how excited I am and driven to pursue this profession.
During lengthy conversations and, ultimately, warm embrace, I have let Shawn (and all band members) know that I am taking a hiatus from performing and recording with the band. The decision stems not from creative or personal differences (certainly not our friendship), but from my own desire to step out into a new venture and begin a new chapter in my life.
Far too many relationships and partnerships have formed over the past five…or, ten years to say that I am “quitting” music. My desire to be creative and prosperous reach far into my new venture and have everything to do with all of the people that I have come to know through “playing” music.
I don’t want my thoughts to become too disjointed, as I am writing off-the-cuff here.
But, please know this: I am not done. The Shawn & Hobby Band are not done. There is no finality in this brief proclamation. This is simply a new opportunity and a choice I have made to further the life that my beautiful wife and I have been making.
I cannot express with enough fervor or gratitude the amount of respect and love I have for Shawn Lacy as a friend and coconspirator.
Ron Lavella, I honestly have a hard time thinking I could ever play the same with someone else. I mean that in a good way.
Elio, Ray, Chris, Sam, Matt and various other musicians that have graced us with their talents, I say, “Thank you”, and will speak to you all privately. You too, Jeanne!
I am rambling.
This is not a farewell, but simply a “so-long”. For now.
Hobby

We are one step closer to wrapping up recording for the new record. Last week we had the one and only Brad Neher in the studio with us. He laid down some amazing B3 and Rhodes tracks. Mr. Casey Henderson was behind the board at Ronnie’s Place which is located in Black River Studio on historic music row. After a long day of finishing up keyboard tracks for the existing songs, a brand new song was added to the list and maybe juuuuust maybe Director Steve Condon is gonna have a video for this tune ready very very soon. Stay tuned!

Look out SHB fans. Come the end of August you just might find the us playing a show in your city. We will be rolling out of Nashville and heading to Indianapolis, Indiana to play a show at The Tin Roof. From there we will be heading to Chicago, Illinois to play a show at Reggie’s in the south loop. From Chicago we are going to be traveling up to Ann Arbor, Michigan to play a private show. From there we will be heading to the Paper City Music Festival right outside of Columbus, Ohio to play an outdoor concert with our buddy Lewis Copeland. More details for all the shows listed above along with possible new dates are available on our website.

I have a man crush. In lieu of defining the parameters of this frequently misunderstood personal and societal affinity of man, uh, for man…I will simply share my story:

The stately and debonair gentleman that will be referred to often through the body of this column will ultimately be revealed, but that time is not now. For now (circa 2011), the story begins with my musical co-conspirator, Shawn Lacy, and I being guided through the doors in the reception area of a stalwart among American Rock ‘n Roll radio stations in Philadelphia, PA.

Our manager and spiritual advisor had a history with the fine people at the station, in particular, with a long-tenured radio disc jockey and brought us in to make an introduction and possibly get some free coffee and pastries. Upon meeting my future Man Crush I knew instantly that we had met an ally, a compatriot, a man of substance and creativity with a gentility that could only warn you, “don’t fuck with this dude”. So, naturally we did. He extended us a great amount of his time during an interview in his studio; we chewed the fat like we had known each other for much, much longer than 20 minutes. Exchanging jokes and answering questions that were genuine and studious during our conversation revealed the character, commonality and basis for a new partnership with…hell, with my man, Pierre Robert.

In other (and much different) experiences on radio, it sometimes feels like you’re there to do a job, or help someone else do their job. Not so in the liberating enclosure of Robert’s sound booth! Pierre has the kind of wisdom that only 30-plus years on the air combined with passion and experience can communicate. “Been there, seen that, heard it before, try me please”, are the phrases you associate with people who have been in the music business as long as Pierre has. Instead you hear, “How’s the new record, what’s next, will you play us something?” when Pierre invites you in front of the microphone.

Philadelphia is the birthplace and home of many great American artifacts and historical events, cultural movements and magnetic individuals, full of pride in its universities and professional sports, but the face and name that belongs beside them all is, Pierre Robert, lauded and venerable DJ at 93.3 WMMR.

I would hope that it’s plain to see why, with his host of endearing personality traits and unique professionalism, that Pierre Robert is the object of my male-male affection. I also could have written on the topic of, “Birthplace of Cool: Pierre Robert”…hopefully you’ve figured out that you can find one of the coolest Cats to roam this earth has, graciously, extended his home to the Shawn & Hobby Band and has long been at home in Philadelphia at 93.3 WMMR.

Do yourself a favor and tune in. I can’t help it if you fall in love with the man!

Thank you Pierre for making this past weekend in Philadelphia another amazing journey for SHB,
Hobby

Hey folks, Shawn here from SHB. Just wanted to fill everyone in on some fun happenings in the SHB world.

Casey Henderson(studio engineer) and I just spent a late night in the studio getting started on the rough mix of one of our new songs “Flipside.” The song has really come together and the vibe of the tune is spot on. Casey has been working magic throughout the entire album process, but seeing him pull together the rough individual tracks has been something special.

We will be working hard the rest of the week on some last minute tracking and transitioning into the full on mixing of the album by the beginning of April. So stay tuned!

On the live show front, we are finalizing details for a trip to the North East at the end of April to join the one and only Kix Brooks for a show at the House of Blues in Atlantic City, NJ. Other shows are in the works for that trip, along with some television and radio appearances. We will keep you all(or ya’ll) updated on the latest details on www.shbmusic.com.

A big thanks to our fans for the amazing support you have shown for our new music video “Far From Home.” We didn’t expect the song would come out of the gate and be approaching 8,000 views already. It just goes to show what you THE FANS can do. Let’s keep the views climbing and soon we will be seeing this thing on CMT and GAC and heck maybe even the FOOD Network, the Oxygen channel or we could aim high and shoot for the O network(oh I hope so!)

Keep spreading the SHB word and lets push our FB likes over 2,000 and the video over 10,000.

Thanks again everybody and we hope to see you out at an SHB show soon!

With the new album over halfway finished and big shows lining up, SHB is preparing itself for what will be it’s biggest year yet.

“Casey Henderson at Sound Stage Studios has been doing an amazing job engineering the project for us. He has great ideas and has help take this album to the next level. We love to partner up with folks like Casey. A relationship is forged throughout the recording process and working closely with someone of his talent helps push us to create the best music we can create. He is also incredibly incredibly good looking!”

….We can’t wait to finish up the record and get this music out to our fans. It has been way to long since new SHB music has been recorded and it is like a shot of adrenaline straight to the heart every time we hit that record button. Straight up ‘Pulp Fiction’ style! This new project will give us a great stepping stone to bigger and better things. New shows, radio interviews, and TV appearances are already lining up in anticipation, so it’s time to buckle up. Spring is gonna be a heck of a ride.” -Shawn-

After a weekend full of long days in the studio and long nights on stage performing, SHB has 8 songs tracked for the upcoming album.

“The energy in the room during the recording session was unbelievable. It was such a great space and we were firing on all cylinders all weekend long….It was such a creative environment and having us all in sync with each other made for some amazing recordings.” -Shawn

The album has begun to take shape and the guys are thrilled to get this brand new music one step closer to getting it out to the fans. Keep checking www.shbmusic.com and the YouTube channel for video blog updates from this weekend. More news on the new album will be released as the project progresses.

A big thank you to the SHB nation for all the support you have shown for the new single and music video. We are less then 250 views away from breaking the 7000 view mark. This is huge for a video that was just released only 2 weeks ago. Without any major label or promotion company backing, you the fans have shown how there is power in numbers. Thanks to you the video has created quite a stir in the music city and some big plans are in the works for the near future.

Stay tuned to shbmusic.com for updates and new video blogs from the guys. They hit the studio this weekend to begin tracking songs for the new EP. We will be updating you via video blogs throughout the recording process. You never know what will be caught on camera!!!

Hey SHB fans, the time has come! New music is on the horizon, as the guys head into the studio to lay down tracks for the brand new EP.

“It has been a journey writing and gathering songs for the new EP. Some of the songs are ones we’ve had for a while and others are brand new. We have grown significantly as a band since the last album was released, and we are very very excited about the new material.” -Shawn-

SHB has the opportunity and privilege to be laying down the new tracks in the heart of music city at one of her most well respected and famous studios. A release date for the new EP has yet to be determined. Stay tuned!